Van Parys wins gold at Special Olympics

Jamie VanParys shows off the Special Olympics gold medal he won in the Canada Summer Games held last month in Medicine Hat, AB. He won the gold in Division 12 of bocce and a speech he gave as Team Ontario captain was on TSN highlights of the games. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Tillsonburg Special Olympian Jamie VanParys struck gold at the recent Special Olympics.

Held in Medicine Hat, AB, from Aug. 11 to 15, VanParys won an overtime nailbiter to capture the gold medal.

Bocce is a game where a small white ball is thrown in the playing field. Players then throw larger coloured balls – about the size of a softball – trying to get their balls closest to the white ball. Each player uses a different colour for the match. Points are awarded for each ball that is closer to the white ball than the other players.

Prior to competition commencing, players were assessed to divide them into different divisions. This was done by placing balls at different intervals in the court, competitors throwing balls and then scoring to see who came the closest. VanParys competed in Division 12, which was the third men’s division.

The competition was held indoors, which was a change for VanParys as bocce is typically an outdoor sport. Event organizers held the event indoors over concern about hot weather since bocce goes ahead rain or shine, but that was not that the case.

“It was very uncharacteristic,” VanParys said of the weather. “Usually its 40˚ and sunny, but was 15˚ and rainy.”

He was glad it was held indoors and did get some practice in on an indoor surface, both at home and before competition started in Alberta. This was his first competition at home.

In the first game, VanPArys tied against Chris Bulmer from Newmarket. This was a back and forth match that VanPArys tied by getting two points on his last throws.

He reflected that he was getting used to the playing surface in that game.

“The balls curved and reacted in ways we didn’t think of,” he said. “It made it more difficult until we figured that out.”

VanParys then pulled out a 12-8 win against Midhurst, Ontario competitor Grant Vahi, after being ahead the entire game.

“I was getting comfortable,” he said of the game. “I adjusted my strategy to how the turf was interacting.”

In game three, against Luke Meiszinger from Paris, ON, VanParys was behind three in the beginning of the game and then scored 12 unanswered points to win the game.

Then, in the fourth game. VanParys led the entire game against James MacFarlane from Cranbrook, BC, for a 12-2 win.

He was coached by Hailey Izokaitois from Brantford, who was chosen to go to the games. Carolyn Mullholand coaches him locally and at last year’s provincials, but was not chosen to go to the nationals.

With round robin play done, VanPArys was estatic when Izokaitois told him he was fist in his division. That gave him a bye to the finals, where he met MacFarlane again.

The gold medal game was termed as “stressful” by VanParys as it was a back-and-forth game with the two players trading points.

“He had learned what my strategy was and played against it,” VanParys said.

He was trailing by two with five minutes left, and then scored two in the last frame to send the game into overtime, which was a first for him. VanParys had control of the white ball to start the extra time.

“I threw it in a different spot than what I did before,” he recounted of his strategy. “James missed his shot and I was able to score some points.”

With the game done, VanParys said he had to come out of his “focus zone” to let it sink in what just occurred.

“When I knew I won, I was excited but was also happy it was over. I let out a sigh of relief, hugged my coach, shook the ref’s hand and James’ hand,” he said.

The win qualifies VanParys to go to next year’s Special Olympics World Games in Chile, but he has to go through a selection process as Canada has a limit on how many athletes can go. In the meantime, he will keep practicing.

VanParys was also the team captain for the 34 athletes Ontario sent to the tames, and gave pep talks to the players. His coach recorded one of these, which was replaced on TSN.

His speaking ability earned VanParys a spot in Special Olympics athlete mentoring program. In this role, he will speak to other Special Olympians about his experience, and to other organization about what Special Olympics is.

He will also be a peer mentor. He explained this role is similar to a coach, but the one restriction is he can’t be a peer mentor in a sport he is competing in.